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Showing results for 'Dr. Raymond Konior'.
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Hey all: This forum helped me pick out Dr. K and man, am I grateful for that. In short, about 7 years ago I did about 4400 graphs FUT; you can see the before after here (posted on this forum). Needless to say, it was life changing. I've been on Propecia + Rogaine Foam since I got the procedure. My crown has since thinned out. XFusion (like Toppik, but way better imo) does wonders to cover this spot, BUT, I'm really sick of using so much. It started off with a dash or two, but crown has since gotten thinner and thinner and thus I'm using more and more. I'm tired of using so much and being beholden to it. So I'm getting my second procedure, but wanted to see what others thought. Ideally, I can just do FUE and then use beard to cover FUT scar. Best case I get about 1500 graphs FUE. Worst case I get 1,000. If I do FUE + FUT, I can probably do 2800 - 3000 graphs, but I'm nearly certain my donor area will be exhausted, and I don't want that. I want to keep something in my back pocket as I age. I am currently 36. I see him in about a week and my procedure likely won't be done for another 11 months. Aside, I believe Dr. K's talents are worth the wait. Plan: My plan is to reinforce the front with some more density and then cover up the top of my head while adding some at the very bottom of my crown, which is where I'm pretty much bald. The thinking is I could cover up that bald spot really easy with XFusion, but only using a small amount (I don't mind if it shows it's thinning there, just a touch to make it less noticeable. After all, I am 36 and only getting older, so I'm OK w/ that). Below are pics I just took. They were taken with an iPhone 8 and are between 5-8mb.They were taken in a brightly lit bathroom not directly under powerful bathroom lights, but pretty much almost directly under them. I am not using concelear in these photos. If people have some expertise, please share thoughts. Thanks. -
Hey everyone, I'm about two days out from my ~2300 graft FUT procedure with Dr. Konior. As often happens with Konior, he initially quoted me 1500 grafts but wound up going all the way up to 2300 to pack everything in more densely. It was one of the smoothest and most painless medical experiences of my life, and the whole thing took about 12 hours. I'd take a hair transplant over getting cavities filled at the dentist any day. I'd like to start by thanking the past Konior patients who have documented their procedures so thoroughly. Spanker, Reyes1, SamSpade, and the various Matts (among others) posted incredibly detailed threads that helped make my choice of surgeon very easy. I hope that I can continue in their tradition with another well documented write-up. Pre Surgery I was 28 and probably a NW2.5 or 3 prior to this surgery, and my main goal was to restore my receded hairline and fill in the temples. I've been on finasteride and minoxidil for several years and they've definitely slowed things down, but there are a few spots that have slowly continued to thin (including in back...but it looks worse in one of the below photos than it really is). I plan to continue both meds for the rest of my life, and will likely have additional "tune up" surgeries down the line to maintain what I have. Dr. Konior actually suggested a low dose pill version of minoxidil for those who find the application of Rogaine to be tedious (I only apply the foam once per night because it's such a pain in the ass). I spent months reading about hair transplants and researching doctors until I finally narrowed it down to Konior, Rahal, and Hasson (I had already decided to stay within North America). There's no question that all three are hairline masters, but there were a few things that stood out about Konior that steered me in his direction: 1. His relative conservatism and focus on long term strategy would be a great check on my own desire to be as aggressive as possible. 2. If you look at his cases, it's pretty clear that he is often able to do with 1500 grafts what most surgeons need 2500 or even 3000 grafts to achieve. Konior's ability to make every graft count really speaks to his artistry and perfectionism, which is of course another big advantage for young patients like me who need to use every single graft very judiciously. 3. He performs one surgery a day and as others have pointed out, does virtually the entire surgery himself -- donor extraction, lateral slit incisions, and graft placement. I do think one or two of his techs placed some of the grafts, but he supervised them meticulously and I overheard him tweaking anything that didn't look perfect. This isn't to say that technician-heavy clinics are inherently flawed -- many techs at other clinics have years of experience and are truly skilled workers -- but ultimately, I felt that a tech-heavy approach would add another level of risk that I'd prefer to do without. 4. Konior's year long wait list and relatively high price speak volumes, especially since he does minimal marketing and is pretty selective when taking on new patients. These things may seem like "cons" at first glance, but over time I came to see them as major "pros." A hair transplant is something that will affect your appearance for the rest of your life, and I knew that 10, 20, or 30 years from now I'd care a lot more about having picked the right hairline than saving a few thousand dollars. More often than not, you get what you pay for -- and plastic surgery is not an industry where you want to look for a bargain. 5. Konior's immediate post op photos have a really clean and distinctive look, with very little blood compared to most other surgeons' graft zones after surgery. I've always found it very satisfying to look at his post op photos and notice the precision of the graft angles and placement. The Surgery One thing that isn't often discussed on here is the feeling of oh shit that kicks in as your surgery date approaches. As soon as I realized my surgery was a month away, the reality of the situation hit me hard: was I seriously about to fly to Chicago and undergo surgery just to give myself better hair? Eventually the excitement started to outweigh the fear, but it was for sure an emotional rollercoaster until I finally arrived at Konior's office at 6:30 AM. Once I checked in with the doctor's staff, I finished my paperwork and wrote down my lunch order. Everyone was very kind and conscientious, and at around 7 the doctor came in to discuss the surgical plan. As Dr. Konior and I settled into our initial conversation, I immediately felt my anxiety begin to fade. He really took his time to discuss his hair loss philosophy, crack a few jokes, and field a few questions that I had. He seemed totally relaxed and in no hurry to push things along, and by the time we moved on to drawing the hairline I felt totally at ease. Helping a patient feel comfortable during that first meeting is a genuine, underrated skill and it really helped to set the tone for the entire day. He then had me draw my version of a hairline -- I wanted it lowered just a bit with my temples filled in, and I asked him to pack it as "densely as he thought would be ethical". Konior took one look at the hairline I drew and said something like, "yep, I know what you want" as though he'd seen it a million times before. He then spent about 45 minutes drawing his own version of the hairline, erasing and re-drawing parts of it over and over again until he thought it was perfect. He took pictures from several different angles while doing so, and every now and then he'd pause to stare at my hairline the way a painter looks at his work while trying to get those last brush strokes just right. It was easy to see how Konior's artistry and surgical precision are a super effective combination. When the doctor handed me a mirror to look at his proposed hairline, I was ecstatic (the hairline he drew is visible in the pics I've attached). I had worried that he'd push for something more conservative, but what he drew turned out to be pretty much exactly what I'd hoped for. So I basically told him I wouldn't change a thing and the process continued. I felt even more relief when I learned that he would only have to shave a small portion of my existing hair to create the new hairline. I've seen a lot of Konior cases where patients went for the full shave, and I really hoped I wouldn't have to go down that route and thus experience a much longer "ugly duckling" phase. When he wound up just shaving a few useless miniaturized hairs in front, I felt pretty confident that in another week or two I'd be able to cover up the work without wearing a hat. As someone who wanted to get back to work and my social life as soon as possible, this was a HUGE weight off my shoulders. With my last major fear assuaged, I was genuinely excited to get started. They gave me some valium and had me lay face down while the doctor got ready to remove the strip. I have a pretty low pain tolerance and a very strong fear of needles, but I have to say that the numbing shots were the least painful shots I have ever experienced. They used some sort of vibrating device on my skin next to the injections, which made the actual shots feel like nothing. I barely noticed when the strip actually came out, and then they gave me a bathroom break and got ready to start the incisions. I was given more valium throughout the day and for the most part I felt restful but awake. I dozed off a couple times and woke back up mid-snore, but for the most part I just chilled out and focused on staying perfectly still while Konior and his techs did their thing. Occasionally I'd feel some soreness in back and they'd have to re-numb me -- the re-numbing shots were actually a little more painful, but that's probably because I waited too long to ask for them (the doctor was really in the zone so I was hesitant to interrupt). As mentioned earlier, he did have two techs present during graft placement but I'm pretty sure he placed most of them himself while the techs would pass him the grafts that had been dissected. It definitely sounded like he placed the most important grafts himself, such as the 1s along the hairline. At around 6:30 PM, the surgery was finally complete. Konior and his team put in roughly a 12 hour day in total: 2 hours of conversation and planning the hairline, followed by 10 hours of performing the surgery itself. Compared to what I was expecting, the entire day felt like a series of best case scenarios -- I got exactly the hairline I wanted, felt close to no pain whatsoever, and was able to keep enough existing hair to (hopefully) cover up the procedure after another week or two. Konior's staff was nice enough to give me a ride to the Comfort Suites that evening, which I really appreciated because I was not looking forward to interacting with strangers in my post surgical state. In fact, I didn't end up having to interact with anyone -- the Comfort Suites have a back entrance you can open with your room key, and my room was right next to the back door. So yet another small anxiety was eliminated. I don't think I could have asked for a better experience. Immediate post op pics are below (I circled a small mole in the final pic for added perspective): -
Dr. Raymond Konior. Search through the directory on this site with his name as keyword. Look at their website. Chicago Hair Institute. There are many examples of the work that he does including repair and scar work. He is one of the most talented in the business. In addition, he is also one of the most ethical and will guide you in the right direction. As such, he is expensive and the wait time is well over a year. It seems like you waited 25 already so what's one more to have it done right. -
Hello everyone, So I decided to go for Dr. Konior during the summer of 2017 and got a reservation for August 8th, 2018. I was 29 at the time and had some pretty extensive frontal balding going on. I had been balding mostly in the front from around age 18 - so pretty early. Luckily I had a decent amount of hair throughout my 20's, but in 2017 I decided I had to do something about my problem. The main issue I had was with people subconsciously scanning my hairline trying to figure out what the problem was up there. The framing in my face was gone and it was constantly drawing eyes, which was not fun. I tried to shave it all off at one point, and although it did look ok, I just didn't feel comfortable with it. The balding was still quite visible, even with a shaved head. I'm sure I would've learned to settle into it, but having hair is always better. It was a year long wait, but finally in August of 2018 I flew out to Chicago, from Norway. I had a few concerns heading into the procedure. One of them was my allergy. I had some pretty bad allergic skin breakouts at the time, and I was also allergic to penicillin, so it was not a good start to the journey ! But the Doctor and his staff were really professional and nice, which made things easier. We decided that it would be ok to skip the antibiotic pills, and instead just use the antibiotic ointment for the postop. Thinking about it now, I'm very glad that I did. Antibiotics wreck havoc on your system, and the risk of infection is tiny with a good clinic and proper wound care. Another concern was nerve damage around the donor area. I'm a bit of a skinny person, so I felt like my nerves would be closer to the surface than other people, but this turned out to be a non-issue. Full sensation returned to the donor area within a couple of months. I think this is due to the fact that he's a great surgeon. I even told him I was worried about it right before he was about to remove the strip, which might've made him be even more careful. Dr. Konior is the only hair transplant surgeon I know of with a cosmetic surgery background, so you're in good hands when it comes to all that. At this point, I have no numbness at all there. I sleep very comfortably. The recipient area is still slightly numb though, but I think that's normal. It's been cut over 3000 times, so it's to be expected. I don't notice the numbness there unless I bump my head into something. If I touch with my fingers it feels ok. And finally, to all the people worrying about when the results will come. Be patient. I was a bit of a slow grower myself. It takes time for the transplanted hair to settle in and mature, and for the blood vessels to grow strong. But, make sure you do a lot of research before you pick your surgeon. You want skilled hands operating on you. -- Anyway, here are some pre-op pics. -
Dr.Hasson, Dr.Carlos Wesley & Dr.Konior - the current three posting the best "homerun" results in North America from what I can see of recent clinic and patient own postings. Dr.Rahal was in the mix previously for FUT but something seems slightly amiss about the feedback from Rahal recently. For large strip mega-sessions of 5,000 grafts or more like you'd need - I think Dr.Hasson seems to be a leader in this space in both grabbing as much hair in one session as possible and leaving a great scar. In Europe Hattigen Hair seem to be doing very big FUT cases too. -
Hello all, I’m posing this question as a prior FUE patient (not of either doctor). I am not currently looking to get a procedure because my hair is pretty good right now but I will be looking within the next two years or so, and I couldn’t find any information about the above topic. I lurk on these forums often to stay up to date with things and check out results because it’s very interesting to me and makes me happy to see guys getting great results. I have seen some really good things from both Hasson and Wong of H&W clinic fame. They have a robust patient community and some good marketing and are known globally. I have also recently discovered Dr. Raymond Konior in Chicago, which is close to where I live. I’ve conversed with him several times just asking about his methods and was truly impressed by his responsiveness. His results are also amazing and I have not found anything bad about him. I’ve compared results between the two and honestly it’s hard to really tell which takes the cake. With someone like me who is willing to wait a while, what is the best course of action that you would take? Could I be better suited with one or the other? My procedure would be entirely in the frontal third, mostly the hairline, and I’m looking for FUE. I can upload some pics later, as well.
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Hi folks. So I'm finally ready to take the plunge, live in Toronto Canada and have narrowed my short list to Dr. Nadimi in Chicago (of Konior fame), H&W in Vancouver, and Dr. Rahal in Toronto. My consults with each of them went like this: Dr. Nadimi: FaceTime consult Surgery in Chicago 1500-2000 FUE grafts recommended, could be all the way up to 2400 Shes not entirely sure she can get 2400 FUE grafts from my donor area based on photos and not-so-great FaceTime connection She will perform all extracts and most implants, will be there the entire time Does not feel comfortable doing more than 2400 FUE in a session due to scalp blood supply and time that grafts need to be implanted by (~8 hours) Uses latest tech, hybrid dull/sharp punch, learned everything from Konoir Potentially a discount for future hair transplants No official growth guarantee Recommended to stay in Chicago for a week to get looked after by the clinic Seems like a high end operation Dr. Rahal (Aaron and Tara did the consult): Aaron started the consult and was decent, called in Tara in the middle who blew me away In person consult Surgery in Toronto Measured a total of approx 5000 FUE grafts available in donor area 2500-3000 FUE grafts recommended for 1st transplant of hairline, will likely need another 2500 down the road for crown and touch up, aiming for 45-50 follicles per square cm Estimated Norwood 4-5 in the future No issues doing 3000 FUE in 8 hours, they have done 4200 in a day before Also uses latest hybrid dull/sharp punch tech Rahal and Mike will perform the extractions, Rahal will make the incisions and someone other than Rahal will implant Growth guarantee and free touch ups (not sure what the fine print is around this) Discounted graft rate for future transplants Patient care team access for a year Suggested pairing with PRP Hasson & Wong (James did the consult): In person consult Surgery in Vancouver 3000 FUE grafts recommended, possibly have 5000-6000 FUE grafts in donor area 3000 FUE done over two days, they limit surgeries to about 2000 FUE per day Recommended Dr. Hasson due to hairline objective (Wong more for crown work) Each doctor has performed 10,000+ surgeries Also uses latest hybrid dull/sharp punch tech, 0.85 punch size Techs do the extraction and implantation, Hasson performs incisions Estimated Norwood 5A future recession Informal growth guarantee and free touch ups Discounted future transplants For out of town patients they offer free lodging (3 days), taxis to and from the airport, and a partial flight credit I have to say, Rahal's team did the best sell job and I'm leaning that way.. but is 2500-3000 FUE too ambitious for one day? Am I risking hairs due to them rushing? I don't want to bias your opinion any more than that, but based on your experience on this forum, knowledge, what was said above and my pictures, what would you do? Any other insight or commentary you could offer before I make the plunge? Are there any other GTA doctors that I must absolutely check out? Hoping to finalize a decision in the next few days. REALLY appreciate all the help and support you guys can give. Thanks. -
HW or Konior?
bandersnatchi replied to bandersnatchi's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
Been following the latest comments. Some interesting views. I am by no means an expert, but have followed this field for a few years and done quite a bit of research. My thoughts: I had an FUE with ASMED (1200 grafts) 3 years ago to correct an uneven hairline. Thankfully I do not really have much hair loss, it was more of a vanity thing. Regardless, the procedure went well, I had basically 100% yield, but there were some artistry issues that I noticed about 12-18mo later. Multi-hair grafts in hairline, lower density in some places. I ended up getting a very small procedure (400 grafts) with a very well-known Dr. in Atlanta. Would've gotten more but it was cost-prohibitive for me at the time. I have mixed views on ASMED. They have been around for a while and have put out a lot of good results. Recently though, as many of us know, there have been some issues with a few cases. I won't comment on why (I don't know for sure) but I do remember not being too impressed by the extremely limited interaction with Erdogan and the questionable tech teams. I decided it would no longer be on my list for any future procedures. I was very impressed and happy with my experience with the Dr. in Atlanta. I started looking for a Dr. for my second procedure to fully perfect my first one. Hair stable, on Fin 1mg/day for 1 year with no sides. I researched heavily H&W and also Konior. I even had a procedure date with H&W before I started second-guessing myself. Nobody is saying H&W isn't a top tier clinic. Let's be cognizant of personal bias. We all have it towards things we feel strongly about, myself included. I think H&W (Hasson specifically, since he was going to be my doc) are outstanding; long list of consistent results. There are also a lot of other equal-caliber docs. H&W obviously has a strong patient outreach/marketing engine, good patient coordinators, etc. Ultimately, I decided to not go with H&W because I found Konior and I felt that his style was more suitable for my particular needs since I was needing a very small session. I chose Konior based on my interactions with him. Direct patient-doctor interaction. He personally emailed me back on multiple occasions and it was clear this man was an extremely meticulous and thoughtful doctor. Is Hasson as well? I would assume so, but I never spoke to him. I heard nothing but good things about him, too. Another reason I chose Konior is because of his stick-and-place approach. Making incisions and immediately placing grafts allows the surgeon to make smaller incisions in the first place; since skin is elastic, incisions almost immediately start closing up, so if you make several thousand incisions before placing grafts you naturally have to make bigger incisions to account for that. I'm not a surgeon and I don't know if I explained that correctly, but you guys can definitely do some reading to find out more. In the end, the stick-and-place approach often leads to much cleaner looking recipient areas and less redness. Take a look at Konior immediate post-op pics and compare them to other methods, you'll see what I mean. That was another reason. The third main reason I decided to go with Konior is because he performs the entire procedure, and based on my research, he is a perfectionist. He has assistants, but he performs the vast majority of the entire procedure which includes extractions. After not being impressed with the tech aspect of the procedure and feeling like I paid for the techs and not the doctor, I'm more than willing to pay more for a doctor-centric approach. Last reason, Konior works on one patient a day. Another reason. I am unsure if H&W operates that way. This post wasn't supposed to argue that Konior is a better surgeon than Hasson (it's not what I'm saying) but I am certain that in MY specific case, Konior is the way to go. -
I've been going through a very stressful hurdle as of late and recently. The stress started about 3 months ago. Within the last 1.5 months, I've noticed that the sides of my hair are not growing on par with the back side of my hair; the sides also look thinner. This seemed to occur almost immediately and very aggressively. I've noticed increased shedding, enough that it was more than usual, and I can see the "bulbs" at the bottom of the hair strands. idk what that means, but I've seen people bring up the bulbs. (Edit: fwiw, the shedding has since slowed down significantly as of about a week ago) I've been on propecia + rogaine for nearly six or seven years. Had a FUT transplant done by Dr. Konior around the same time I started taking meds. Does anyone have any insight on this? The stress is legit and I don't want to share what's causing it, but not sick or anything. Just going through a tough time and I'm near the end of it. And fwiw, I'm seeing Dr. K again in about two weeks for consultation for my second procedure, so I'm sure he'll have some insight, too, but this is just unusual given how aggressive it's been. Thanks.
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Hi guys, First off, I would like to thank you all sincerely for all your help throughout my hair lost journey. I have been lurking theses forums for the past 10 years and your story where helpful and guide me to Dr. Konior who I have the upmost respect and admiration. I have been struggling with my hair lost since i was 20 years old and now at 40 it was the time to take action. I was schedule for a 3000 FUT grafts procedure and it end it up with with 3423. Theses are my grafts details : 1 = 299 - 2 = 1976 - 3 = 1148. Got at the office at 6:30 am and was welcome by Lisa who was very kind and thoughtful. We got the paperwork done and Dr. Konior came to see me. We chat a bit, I had a few questions for him and told him that my main goal has to have a thick hairline .Afterword we started drawing a hairline that he taught would suit me well. The hairline was perfect and didn't want to change anything to it. Theses are a few pictures before my hair transplant , this will give you a idea of my hair lost : This one is when my hair is style : The operation went perfectly, I had didn't feel any pain and the procedure was done around 8:30 pm. I was truly amaze by Dr. Konior works and perfectionism, He is truly skill and a great surgeon. Theses are a few pictures of me Post-Opt, sorry I know the lighting isn't that great : I was very happy with the outcome and will cross my figures that with this surgery I will be able to get the hairline at a density that suit my expectations. Thanks again guys for everything, you have inspire me to move forward with the surgery in despite of my fears. -
Fantastic results man I'm so happy for you another home run from Dr. Konior 🙌 -
Previous thread on first procedure with Dr. K with sole goal to rebuild the frontal zone: Second procedure on January 23, 2019, approx 1200 grafts: -400 in the front to lower hairline and address left temporal recession -200 feathered behind and through mid scalp -600 on crown which were multiple hair grafts. Doc spent a lot of time this time around laying out the days plan, drew a lot of lines and took a lot of photos since we were 'refining' and not 'rebuilding' the front - eventually came up with the idea of a subtle widows peak to address my desire to lower the hairline + address left temporal recession with minimal graft usage. Needless to say, I was thrilled with the plan, it looks absolutely fantastic in the mirror, and now my fingers are crossed for good health and growth moving forward. Fully expect there will be a 3rd procedure down the road given my extensive crown loss (see prior thread), although everyone at the clinic seemed more optimistic and to said give it time. I am postop day 5 here are some pics- as expected the work is clean, negligible discomfort if any, minimal redness and i have been out and about doing stuff- pretty much nobody would really be able to tell at a quick glance that I just had a surgical procedure, except for the fading marker lines on my head! -
@Chances101 Last time I spoke with Dr. Konior back in 2018, I asked him about beard hair in the donor zone. He told me that it does work and is preferable, as the scalp hair is better suited on the top. Dr. Konior is helpful doc, I suggest submitting an online consultation with him and getting some more information with him directly. Best wishes, Melvin
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Dr. Ferreira seems like he has the makings to be a future Konior. Impressed with how meticulous his protocol is, definitely on my radar.
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I have a very similar situation with scaring from Artas . I have seen multiple FUT scar repairs in this forum. Now my question is , is there any repair for this situation? What do you guys recommend? Smp? Or beard hair into the fue scar ? Is that ethical to transplant hair into a FUE Scar? Noted that smp seems to only look good when people keep their hair shaved really low. I like to wear mines longer. Almost a 3-4 guard . Also if ur hair is transplanted into a FUE scar. And you get a procedure in future. Could you move that hair around again that you transplanted back in to donor ? @Melvin-Moderator @Dr. Raymond Konior -
Dr. Konior, I was researching about HT to the donor strip scar and in certain cases, the grafts placed in the scar don't grow sometimes. Which cases is this research referring to? -
FUE surgery to cover FUT scar?
Melvin-Moderator replied to champybaby's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
Last I spoke with Dr. Konior he actually suggested using beard hair for the scar. In my opinion, I would feel more comfortable using my scalp hair for the top and beard hair for the scar. -
I've looked and cant see any fibers. Dr. Konior is an ethical surgeon who would never do that.
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Dr. Konior, Great results. I am just so happy you were my surgeon. Can’t wait for my hair to grow. Many thanks to you and your team for all you did for me. -
Dr. Konior - 3423 FUT Grafts - July 2019
Yolando replied to Yolando's topic in Hair Restoration Results Posted by Patients
Thanks Matt, I wasn’t expecting to much growth before 4 months but I’m still happy to see some new hair coming out at this point. I wanted to thank you for sharing your HT journey. You have inspired me to move forward with my procedure and I decided to go with Dr. Konior because of you. And for that I am very grateful. Thank you so much. -
Dr. Cooley, Dr. Konior, Dr. Umar, Dr. Bisanga. Just to name a few can you post pictures?
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I fully agree with Dr. Konior. I'm a musician as well (guitar player) and one of the things you'll hear a lot is how "tone is in your fingers" and how, for example, Slash playing through someone else's guitar and equipment still sounds like Slash. -
Dr. Konior gave a perfect analogy Hair transplant surgeons are not created equal their skill, talent vary, as do their results. Tools are just tools, it is the person using the tool that makes the difference.
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Dr. Konior said it best:
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Hi transplantedphil, Having a few questions is fine but you seem to be kicking a dead horse here. We explained that the placement did not simply involve lowering the hairline but rather the point was to thicken the frontal zone and slightly lower the hairline. Comparing this case to the one you referenced by Dr. Konior is fairly inaccurate as the logic behind the differences is sound. The Dr. Konior patient has a clearly defined area of loss in the temples. Our patient did not. He had thinning and a slight recession. When you have bald scalp as the Dr. Konior patient had, more grafts are necessary to create density so that is why he had 55% more grafts in an area of placement that was (maybe) 20% larger than what our patient received. Secondly, when you have bald scalp and fill it with hair, the cosmetic impact will obviously be higher due to the fact that if someone was bald, having hair makes the biggest night and day different. In the case of our patient, the majority of the grafts were placed into existing hair, so the effect isn’t as dramatic. I hope this explanation puts this issue to rest. Regarding the “plan”, I’m not aware of one year of medical treatment being a standard. If it is, please show us the professional reference. It is beneficial, of course, and we encourage medical therapy for all of our patients but we cannot make them take medication of any type. Further, the patient’s family history reduces the likelihood of aggressive future loss. This was discussed at length especially because the patient is in his mid-twenties. However, the good thing is that (as mentioned in the original post) he is now on Propecia, to which he is responding well, because he wishes to keep the look he has now and to reduce the chances of more surgery. This is the sensible approach and we’re pleased that he has chosen it. Ultimately, while beauty is always in the eye of the beholder, there is a reason we posted this result. It’s because the patient is happy and was more than willing to allow us to document his result to share with the group. Sometimes, a result does not need to be a night and day change to be a success. It need only make enough of an improvement that the patient can stop worrying about their problems and enjoy their life and that is all that some members are looking for.
